Following expiry of the 35-day deadline set to the Directorate of Rural Development to met its demand for local preference in appointment of MGNREGA staff under Wokha district, the Kyong Students’ Union (KSU) said it would stage a dharna at the DRD office Kohima on November 24 to register its protest. KSU said that the department “irresponsive” attitude even after the expiry of the deadline has been viewed as a “total disregard” by the concerned department towards the Union and its “genuine demand.” It said that the appointment of MGNREGA staff under Wokha district was done in “complete deprival” of local privilege as compared to other districts where most of the stafts were local candidates. KSU pointed out that the DRDA department being one such department that dealt with rural development related affairs, rural populace faced communication problem for correspondence when majority of the staffs were non-indigenous people. In order to resolve this problem, the KSU said due preference should be given to local candidates for appointment of MGNREGA staff under Wokha district.